Posted on 08/06/2008 2:29:43 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The New York Times recently reported on Barack Obama’s long-standing support for affirmative action that gives preferential treatment to members of disadvantaged minorities. While still a student at Harvard Law School , Obama readily admitted that “I undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action,” but the deeper question is how he could justify that advantage. Apologists for preferences explain these policies as a remedy for long family histories of discrimination, but Obama’s background features no such legacy of oppression.
His mother was white and his father’s family, in Kenya , had never been enslaved or subjected to American “Jim Crow” laws or segregation. Both parents earned graduate degrees, so his only basis for preferential treatment would have been skin color, not family disadvantage. That’s typical of affirmative action, which treats people differently based on pigmentation alone, not their origins or experiences.
Yea, but they were Muslims. That's disadvantage enough for anyone.
The whole affirmative action cause is based on false premises and fallacies. Has anyone ever been able to explain why affirmative action does not apply to Asians or those of Indian descent (who in some cases have darker skin than American blacks)? Puzzling is how Hispanics (even those from Spain) can benefit from set asides and quotas who do not have a long history of discrimination or slavery in the US...while the Chinese were treated very poorly.
Enough of the affirmative action, quotas, apologies etc.
It only sets race relations back and provides a sense of entitlement
“Obama readily admitted that “I undoubtedly benefited from affirmative action,”
anyone have a link to this???
The concept of affirmative action may have made sense in 1965, but does it make any sense in 2008?
No one who has grown up in the last 40+ years has attended a legally segregated school, or been denied a job due to race, or been denied any equal opportunity of any kind due to race.
In an affirmative action court case a few years ago relating to college admissions, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said that it’s possible that affirmative action may not be needed in 25 more years. So won’t we reach a point where we can say, that our government and we as a society have done all that can be done to ensure equality of opportunity for all? Justice O’Connor touched on that point. At what point do we say that we’ve done all we can, and that nobody applying for jobs or college today suffered from the legalized discrimination of the past?
It’s not supposed to make sense—that would be asking too much. Stories like this, and the political correctness/”diversity uber alles” movement in general remind me of the Biblical injunction stating that the world cannot last if the fools become the kings. I fear we’re going to learn that firsthand.
“No one who has grown up in the last 40+ years has attended a legally segregated school, or been denied a job due to race, or been denied any equal opportunity of any kind due to race.”
Your not thinking this through. I know several white males who have been discriminated. I know one person who actually was in the top 1% of all candidates (number 2 out of 2000+) for a city firefighter position who was not selected yet women and minorities who were in the bottom 50% were selected. We all know of white males who have been discriminated against in attending both law and medical schools. Special grants and scholarships for minorities and women not provided to white males. Loan assistance programs. And currently the diversity crap instituted by companies discriminates against white males on a daily basis. A little know secret at many Fortune 500 companies is that they have a seperate file compiled for minorities/women that track thier advancement and discipline. Their is alot of pressure on management, including their bonuses, if they do not promote and hire a certain number (can you say quota) of minorities every year - regardless of merit and hardwork.
There is alot of discrimination going on - the city of Tucson gives minority businesses a 10% advantage when assigning city contracts. That is huge.
So to say that no one has been denied anything is to deny the reality that the govt does sponsor and condone racism - but only if your a Christian heterosexual lawabiding white male.
Good points about white men being discriminated against so that preferences can be given to women and minorities.
Imagine if there were men only scholarships. Imagine if the counterpart to the United Negro College Fund was the United Caucasian College Fund.
It’s hard to believe now, but, back in the day, Martin Luther King was in favor of NOT including race on job applications and college applications. He thought that if the race of the applicant weren’t disclosed, that this would help ensure equal treatment and equal opportunity.
There’s a big difference between equality of opportunity and equality of results. Affirmative action has morphed into an expectation that quotas need to be met.
You apparently haven’t had much experience with affirmative action forms. “Asians” is one of the categories of protected classes on any affirmative action form. My brother, a white male, is being repeatedly denied jobs for which Asians, particularly women from China (Communist) are hired. I worked for a university that hired a Chinese guy for a faculty position when American males candidates were much better qualified. It was even a matter of pride to the employer that they had gotten a Chinese to fill their affirmative action quota.
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